Oil Slump May Prompt U.A.E. Spending Cuts, Central Bank Says

The United Arab Emirates may cut government spending as a result of the slump in oil prices, Central Bank Governor Mubarak Rashed Al Mansoori said. The decline in the government’s oil revenue “may trigger further fiscal consolidation, albeit at a gradual pace, to preserve priority spending in support of non-oil growth,” Al Mansoori said at a conference in Dubai on Monday. Oil accounted for almost a third of the nation’s gross domestic product last year, government data show. The price of Brent crude has dropped more than 40 percent in the past year, putting a strain on economies in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, where governments rely on income from oil to fund spending. The U.A.E. banking sector has lost 56 billion dirhams ($15.25 billion) in government deposits since September last year, National Bank of Abu Dhabi Chief Executive Officer Alex Thursby said last month. The global economic slowdown […]